Peer-to-peer (P2P) networks use diverse connectivity between participants in a network and the cumulative bandwidth of network participants, rather than conventional centralized resources where a relatively low number of servers provide a service or application. A pure P2P network does not have traditional clients or servers, but only equal peer nodes that simultaneously function as both “clients” and “servers” to the other nodes on the network.
P2P networks can be useful for sharing content files containing audio, video, or other data in digital format. It is estimated that P2P file sharing, such as BitTorrent, represents greater than 20% of all broadband traffic on the Internet.
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